Talks under way on Teves’ return

OFFICIALS of the Philippines and Timor-Leste are working out the details for bringing home expelled congressman Arnolfo Teves, who was arrested in the Timorese capital of Dili on Thursday.

The Timorese police have taken custody of Teves, who was arrested while playing golf at a driving range in Dili.

“The meeting between Philippine and Timor-Leste government officials is still ongoing,” said Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano on Friday.

“What they are discussing is how Teves will be returned to the Philippines.” Clavano said several options are being considered, including extradition and deportation.

“We will have to see what is the most feasible, fastest and safest way,” he said.

Clavano said deportation is the most expeditious process, since Teves is already considered an undesirable alien following the cancellation of his passport.

He is also an undocumented alien, which means he has violated TimorLeste’s immigration laws.

Extradition appears highly unlikely since the Philippines and Timor-Leste have no extradition treaty.

“However, there may be a way to still request for extradition because of the (United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime),” Clavano said.

In the absence of a treaty, an extradition request can be sought, but it will take a bit of documentation, he said.

Clavano said the DoJ’s priority right now is the safety and security of Teves.

“We know that this is a huge case for us, and we just want to make sure that he is here to stand trial safe and sound, so whatever the concerns of the Teves camp are, they are gone because that is the government’s top priority,” he said.

Teves is being accused of masterminding the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo on March 4, 2023. Five other people were killed when gunmen burst into the Degamo compound.

Teves also faces multiple murder charges in Negros Oriental in connection with a series of murders in the province in 2019.

He was labeled a terrorist in August 2023 by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

Clavano said the DoJ has yet to receive the official Timorese report on Teves’ arrest.

He said it was not the Philippine delegation that made the arrest, but the TimorLeste police and the National Central Bureau (NCB).

PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN WOMEN ON TOPThree women of the Philippine Army (PA) pose atop one of its tanks as they and the rest of the troops put on a show of the PA’s defense capabilities on its 127th anniversary in Capas, Tarlac, on Friday, March 22, 2024. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. (not in photo) delivered the speech on behalf of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was unable to attend for health reasons.